Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1887-08-19
The Famous st. GOthard Tunnel.
Intes-Lakin Jungfran.

lntcS-Lakin .)ungfran.
Letter from Europe
The railroad from Bellinzona to
Lake Lucerne in the famous St. Goth
ard. This is. without exception, the
greatest feat of engineering skill ever
exhibited. Such wild scenery and
grandeur Of view! AS the train pass
es along rushing mountain brooks.
recrossing on viaducts and bridges, it
winds up the valley, ever ascending,
while the mountains close in on both
sides, as if to crush us out of existence.
AS the road nears the mighty noun
tain which is pierced by the great St.
GOthard tunnel, it enters a mountain
and makes a spiral turn in it's depths,
TO appear 100 feet higher up,
only to repeat the same spiral and
ascend 100 feet, and again to ascend
l22 feet, when upon appearing you
look down this 500 set and see your
course already travelled. Now we ap-
proach the great mountain and soon
plunge into the great tunnel. This
took twentysix minutes to 20 through.
1t is nine and one-half miles in length
and we'll ventilated. The highest
point of the line is in the middle, and
is 3, 1855 feet above the sea aud 5000
feet below the surface OF the mount
ain. Its construction cost $114, 900,
900 and consumed eight years in it's
completion, working from both ends.
The scenery on both sides is unequal
ed in any part OF Switzerland tor it's
wild grandeur, broken only by the
roar Of the mountain torrent as it
PUSHES over the rocks in it's mad de-
scent, while from above the snow
look: down on all in stately, solemn
silence.
Lucerne, with it's lion in marble,
that Saratoga OF Switzerland nestled
on the lake border and surrounded
by SO many peaks, is enchanting.
But to US the glory of this country
was reserved.
Going from Lucerne to Interlaken
We rode over the Brunig pass, which
has an altitude of 1000 feet. and
from which, on both sides, some of
the grandest, most sublime scenery
that the human mind can conceive Of
:" W. ~H0"OA up w OuL PAC". UAOuI1"
tain peaks in the distance, whose
heads. lifting themselves far above the
clouds, glistened in the sunlight and
looked as it were fairy land where
mortals could not go, only look at.
The wildness OF the regions through
which our road led was. at times
great. Valleys with fields looking like
patchwor were far below US, a river
like thread of silver, or q lake like a
hand-glass spread out their magnifi.
cence. At 1nterlaken
.z.. 4. THE JUNGFRAU,
a peak over Is, 600 feet high and GOV.
cred perpetuaily with snow, is in full
sight from the village. One can look
at this whlte-robed mountain for
hours without firing, while a drive of
SIX miles up the valley to its base
leads you to Staubach falls. This fall
OF water PUSHES over e. precipice over
900 feet high like a torrent. As it
falls, however, il appears to the sight
to be in struggle with mighty UNI
seen power, for it waivers, falls slower.
Is broken up inta such fine particles
that as q veilSit decends slowly, q part
floating away IS q cloud, and the re-
mainder finally reaching the rocks be-
low, where it collects itself into 4,
small streanllet to flow on. A most
wonderful and gra and sight il this: ito
dscription is impossible. as